How to pour beer like a German

Sylvester Schneider,
behind the bar of his German restaurant Zum Schneider, teaches us
the art of pouring beer.Sarah
Jacobs/Business Insider

Pouring beer is more than getting the liquid from one vessel
to another: it's an art form, as well as a science that has its
own methodologies, constants, and variables.

Of course, no one has perfected
pouring liquid gold quite like the Germans, famous for their
expertise in all things beer, as well as their stringency in,
well, everything. We tapped a real live German — Sylvester
Schneider, owner of German bar and restaurantZum Schneiderin New York's Alphabet City, and expert
pourer and drinker of beer — to show us how it's done
correctly.

Know what you're drinking

The many German beers on tap at Zum Schneider in
Alphabet City.Sarah
Jacobs

According to Schneider, how you pour your beer depends on what
you're drinking. There are three styles of beer: lager, pilsner,
and wheat beer (weissbier), and each is poured differently. It
also helps to know that there are different wheat beers, some of
which have more yeast than others. Schneider Weisse for example
has a lot more yeast than Paulaner or Franziskaner beer.

Embrace the foam

"The thing with German beer in
general is that you want a nice head. We've been getting this
complaint for 15 years, since we opened, that we're not giving
people enough bang for their buck. But we're very stubborn about
this: if you don't like it, go somewhere else," says Schneider
about the American versus the German way.

And indeed, an around 1.5 inch
head of foam is standard in Germany, where a beer without foam is
just wrong. "Beer needs to look appetizing just like a plate of
food needs to look appetizing," he says, "and a beer with
two millimeters of foam is not appetizing, at least not in my
world." He further explains that most German glasses have
markings denoting where to fill the glass to: if you fill it all
the way to the top, and the little bit of foam melts, you've
given away too much beer.

Yearn for yeast

Schneider demonstrates how
to swirl the bottle to loosen the yeast before pouring it into
the glass.Sarah Jacobs/Business
Insider

German weissbier has chunks of yeast at the bottom, which are
essentially a delicacy that you shouldn't let go to waste.
Make sure to loosen said yeast and pour it into your glass
with the rest of the beer (see below).

Ditch the fruit

In general, Germans are anti
fruit in beer. "There is only one exception, and that's a
kristallweizen. A kristallweizen wants to have a lemon. A lot of
people ask for a lemon for their regular weissbier and we tell
them no. Blue Moon started that orange bs. I think the owner of
Blue Moon has a huge orange plantation," Schneider jokes.

Know the three finger rule

At Oktoberfest, there's something
called the three finger rule. Essentially, this means that
foam should be about a three finger's width from the top down.
The next three fingers should be the beer you drink, and the next
three fingers should be thrown out because if you're drinking
from a mass and thus a whole liter at a time, those last three
fingers will be warm by the time you get to them. "I think the
owners of the tents made up that rule," Schneider
laughs.

Never, ever consolidate

"One of the most important rules
is don'teverpour your old beer into your new beer. People
like to do that here very much."

How to pour a wheat beer

According to Schneider, wheat beers and pilsners are more
"explosive" than a lager, meaning that they are more carbonated.
This means that you need to pour it at an angle, or with the
bottle inside of the glass, as well as pour it slowly. "Even back
home there are people that don't know how to pour a weissbier"
Schneider says, before walking us through it.

You have probably heard of the
45 degree tilt when pouring a cold one, but Schneider explains
that his preferred way of pouring wheat beer is to tilt the
weissbier glass much more than 45 degrees, holding it
almost horizontally.

Slowly stick the bottle's neck
into the glass.

Tilt the bottle up — the tip
should be inside of the liquid while you pour it out
slowly. Pouring it slowly is imperative, as
the highly carbonated beer will otherwise explode into a
foamy mess.

Pull the bottle out, still
slowly, once you've filled the glass with about two thirds
of the beer.

Now start pouring the rest a
little faster to create a nice head of foam.

Don't pour the whole bottle
into the glass. Keep a little bit of liquid in the bottle in
order to loosen up the yeast, which is at the bottom. The yeast
is where the flavor is, so unless you can't digest yeast well
(in which case you can either skip these next steps or order a
kristallweizen — a filtered and yeastless wheat beer that's
clear in color) you'll either want to roll the bottle on the
table to loosen said yeast, or swivel the bottle in
circles with a roll of your wrist, which is what Schneider
does.

Pour the yeast into the
glass.

Enjoy.

How to pour a pilsnerNo matter the beer, you
want a nice foamy head.Sarah
Jacobs/Business Insider

Hold the glass tilted to a 45
degree angle.

Pour the beer relatively
quickly, but stop when you've poured a little over half of the
bottle's contents into the glass.

Let the foam settle for a bit,
ideally a minute.

Pour a little more, let the
foam settle, repeat until the bottle is empty. In Germany,
local lore has it that a good pilsner takes seven minutes to
pour. "Your typical pilsner in Germany is a seven minute
pilsner, but that's from a tap, really" Schneider explains.
"You will not findanybodyin this country, or this city, who has the
patience for a seven minute
pilsner." However, Germany is loosening up. Today,
most Germans understand that the seven minute rule is
archaic, and will now accept a three minute pilsner to
obtain the ideal level of foam and carbonation.

Enjoy.

How to pour a lager

Patience is
key.Sarah Jacobs/Business
Insider

Schneider explains that in a weissbier, you basically stick the
whole bottle into the glass, but with a lager you only want
to put the tip of the bottle into the glass. Unlike wheat beer
and pilsner, a lager can be poured relatively
quickly because it's less carbonated.

Hold the glass tilted to a 45
degree angle.

Stick the tip of the bottle
into the glass.

Pour the beer relatively
quickly, and in a fast and steady stream down the side of the
glass.

Start straightening the glass
when it's about two thirds full to create a nice
head of foam.